NFO NEWS - New Futures Organisation

March 2014
NFO NEWS
‘Providing pathways out of poverty through education for the youth of Takeo’
In this issue:

Volunteer program
Dental
clinic visits
Village schools rotating
library


NFO babies

Teacher training

Rice donation
NFO
Welcome 2014
It has been a busy start to the year under our new structure and we
have all been working hard to get everything into place. We have
had a lot happening since the big move in January and have been
lucky enough to have a lot of support through these last few
months. As we take a moment to reflect, we thank all our supporters
for their continued interest and dedication to the youth in which we
serve.
bracelets for sale
Matt and Nou, Welcome Charlie!
On the 2nd of January our beloved old co-director Nou Som-Lee and her
husband Matt Lee one of our trustees (who continue to assist in the
efforts of NFO) had their first child. A healthy baby boy named Charlie.
All the kids we work with are excited to welcome him to the NFO family.
We thank them for all their help right through the latest stages of
pregnancy. Charlie is lucky to be born to parents so dedicated to
bettering the lives of others.
Move to the New Center
After quiet a few weeks of hard work and dismantling of the old children’s
home in early January we moved everything across to the new center in
Takeo Town.
Baby Charlie (left) and our new center kitchen (right)
“I want to say thank you to
NFO, because even I had the
accident and I am very sick,
NFO is help me to get better.
You help my family a lot”.
Sokly, after his moto
accident , age 22
March 2014
We now have a classroom and computer room set up downstairs with Bunseng's office. There is separate big kitchen, with a new rice cooker to serve 30 people with thanks to one of our trustees Tina. We have an eating and study
area out the back for the children who eat with us during their break from school and big back yard for the chickens
and ducks to roam. The eight children that Bunseng is fostering have all settled in now and are happy in their new
home. So much so they have even kept it surprisingly tidy and take pride in keeping it clean.
First Care Packages
Our first load of care packages for the year went out to our repatriated children without a hitch and Bunseng was
able to catch up with them all and check their progress. It has been a big change this past few months, but all our
children are happy to be back in their communities and were all doing great.
Our Schools receiving their Library books
Library
We have now started a rotating library for schools and have delivered 200 books to each school. The teachers are
now responsible for the books being loaned to the students each week and their return. Once every 2 or 3 months
(depending on how quickly the children read all the books) the teachers will bring the books into the center and we
will rotate and swap them over for another 200 new books.
Sokly’s Accident
Unfortunately we had some more bad news for NFO when one of our
University students was in a bad moto acident, he suffered a thalamic
hemorrhage and was unconscious for almost a month. He was hospitalised in Vietnam for around five weeks of that time and will have to
return for checkups every few months. He is now in Phnom Penh receiving rehabilitative physiotherapy and speech therapy thanks to his
university sponsors that are funding this. He is making a slow recovery and can now stand by himself and is starting to walk, his memory
is starting to improve and he is able to concentrate better. He is still
the same old Sokly we all know and love though and was asking for a
burger within 10 minutes of being back in Phnom Penh. Sokly has
certainly not forgotten which football team he barracks for.
March 2014
Volunteer Program up and
Running Again
After a long pause, the volunteer program is up and running yet again. We
now have the required documentation
from the relevant government ministries
and have undergone a complete restructure of our program to reflect feedback
from past volunteers and some of the
organisations that we work with. We
hope our first volunteers in April will enjoy having more structure and a thorough
orientation process in Phnom Penh before their arrival.
Teacher training
We have been lucky enough to have had Ben Wills, an Education
Masters student and teacher here with us for the past eight months
assisting in our curriculum development. He has been holding
teacher training sessions once a month which have been a great
success and create an environment where the teachers can learn
from both Ben and each other.
qb Computer donation
In March we received a generous donation from qb head office
Phnom Penh of three computers. These will be used for computer
lessons for the kids at the drop in center and teacher training for
our village school teachers. A big thanks to Kevin and qb for all
their support. They also sponsored our football tournament that our
kids still reminisce over.
Rice Donation
We had a massive 133 bags of rice donated by Deborah Reed. A huge thank you to her and her supporters for the
ongoing assistance in feeding our children, who we all know will get through that rice in no time. Deborah has been
a longtime supporter of NFO and raises fund annually to come and buy bulk rice for the NFO kids.
NFO Bracelets For Sale
The children at the NFO love making string bracelets and as a way to help support themselves in the community
have begun to make them to sell. When the care packages go out, they receive enough string to make 10 bracelets
a month and receive $1 for each bracelet they make. We limit them to 10 as although it is a hobby they enjoy, it is
important that it does not take away from their studies and chores at home. These are available for purchase either
as gifts or to resell overseas for a higher price as a further donation to NFO. To enquire about purchases please
email volunteer@newfuturesorganization.com
March 2014
Berenice left for Australia
For the past 9 months our organisation has been
fortunate enough to have the assistance of Berenice Franklin. She has been assisting us through
what has been a challenging time, and at some
points near possible. Without Berenice, NFO
would not be where it is today. We would like to
show our appreciation and gratitude for her invaluable contribution to the children that we work
with. We hope to see her back with us soon.
Dental Visit
Camkids sponsored 1 to1 dental clinic to come to
the drop in center to see all 47 children receive a
check up and any required dental treatments.
There were a massive 70 fillings 22 extractions
10 fluoride treatments and 30 sealants. Thank
you so much to Camkids for continuing to fund
dental treatments for our children. This also
meant they all got to see each other for the first
time since December last year. The bouncing
castle came out and there was lots of fun and
laughter. We extended our help to a few more of
the children already repatriated from our children’s home who’s families still needed our help
so our numbers have grew from 41 to 47 in
March. It was great to see them after such a long
time and be able to assist their families to raise
Our first
NFO child!!
Sopheak has been
through our old
children's home
and university
sponsorship program, met a lovely man whom she
married last March
and has now given
birth to her first
child. This is the
first of the next generation of our NFO family. We
congratulate Sopheak on a healthy delivery and wish
her all the best of luck with motherhood. Thank you
to our supporters for helping us to provide the opportunity for a shy teenage girl who was behind in school
to become an educated, strong and hard working
woman and mother to a beautiful healthy baby boy.
We can now help empower the next generation of
youth in Takeo. Your contributions no matter how
large or small can change the futures of those that
we work with in ways that you do not always see immediately.
Thank you
That brings us the end of a busy few months. We thank you for your continued support, without our massive support
base, none of this would be possible. A special thank you to our donors,
Camkids, Project Lille Dream, Deborah Reed, Lynne Noack and Geraldine Millea. Another big thank you to our
board of trustees for their dedication that this year has demanded. Don’t forget to like us on facebook for updates.
Psar Takeo Village, Rokaknong Commune, Daun Keo District, Takeo Town, Takeo Province
Email: volunteer@newfuturesorganisation.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/newfuturesorganisation
Website http://www.newfuturesorganisation.com/